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How Bon Iver is Helping Me with Missions (sort of)

This week one of my favorite artists, Bon Iver, released a new album. The lead singer, Justin Vernon, has a unique voice and style. With his eclectic mix of sounds I find myself listening in all sorts of settings (study, running, driving, etc). It usually always works.

Earlier this week I listened to an interview conducted by NPR with Vernon. They touched on an interesting subject. The words. Perhaps, more specifically, what do the words mean?

Vernon didn’t flinch. He basically said that he picked words that sound good. He wasn’t so much concerned with their meanings. He is more concerned with the sound and the feelings it produces.

Now on one hand, I don’t like this. After all, I am a pastor. I spend days on end with words. It is my life to wring out words and fill buckets with meaning in light of context. This goes against the grain of everything I do.

On the other hand, I like this. I like it because I don’t have to work to figure out what in the world he is talking about. This is always a challenge for me. I assume that he has a meaning to be caught. Now I know he does not. At least not overtly. OK…I’m liberated.

One note that I think is helpfully provided by Bon Iver is the search for meaning through personal subjective lenses. This is prevalent in our culture. We discover and define meaning based upon our lives, experiences, and feelings. We are at the center.

I am not going to impute Vernon with all of the warts of post-modernism (I happen to enjoy this aspect of it, musically). However, I will say that he is holding up a mirror for us to see and better understand how people in our communities think, discover and feel. And this is vitally important when we think missiologically.

As far as the album goes, you can still listen to it free (as of right now) on NPR.

After that you can pick it up on sale at Amazon. If you are new to this band then you must check out For Emma his initial album. It is absolutely terrific.

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